New Zealand defeated England, seal its spot in the final of T20 World Cup.
T20 World Cup 2021: Fine kiwi opener batsman Daryl Mitchell whacked an unbeaten 47 balls 72 against England in the first semi-final to pip the dominant English side and subsequently make New Zealand’s way for their maiden T20 World Cup final.
England after totalling 166 in the first innings were all in throughout the game until all-rounder Jimmy Neesham performed a short rescue operation to snatch smiles from the English faces. Neesham scored a blitz of the innings setting the foundation for slog overs by scoring 27 from mere 11 deliveries.
New Zealand suffered two early losses after they came to chase down the par looking total against England. They lost Martin Guptil and Kane Williamson in succession and England got an ideal start to begin the proceedings.
However, Devon Conway, who is in the form of his life, started stitching a beautiful partnership with opener batsman Daryl Mitchell to keep New Zealand in the game. Conway came in the middle after the kiwis were two down in 12 runs while the southpaw left on 95 runs in the loss of 3 wickets, putting his team in a comfortable position. He scored 46 from 38 deliveries before he was sent back.
England, after the wicket of Devon Conway, were all pumped up as they picked another scalp of Glenn Phillips to further put their authority in the match as they require to defend over 50 runs in five overs left.
However, they never thought modest-looking James Neesham will come and smack their Chris Jordan for a massive 23 runs in just a single over to turn the fortunes against them. Honestly, if you ask, Neesham was the one who showed some serious signs of aggression and put up the foundation stone for the rest of the chase left for New Zealand. Adil Rashid picked up Neesham in the 18th over at his score of 27 from 11 to once again impose English authority in the final spot.
Meanwhile, Daryl Mitchell remained a consistent force that will haunt the England team for a while now. The opener preferred to choose a steady way instead of going bonkers all over the park right from the start. He rotated the strike and was even successful in punishing the loose deliveries by English bowlers.
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New Zealand defeated England, seal its spot in the final of T20 World Cup.
Mitchell, who looked comfortable in the back seat, after Neesham’s wicket thought it was the time to take up the charge and finish the game before it goes to bare margins. He willingly pushed himself up and then went bonkers as he finished the game with one over to spare.
He tonked Chris Woakes to two mighty sixes and a four apart from two singles and a double in 19th over to finish things in New Zealand’s favour. His personal score went for a massive 72 from 47 deliveries with four sixes and boundaries apiece.
He was adjudged the Man of the Match for his blistering innings which paced New Zealand’s chase and took them over the line for their maiden T20 World Cup final appearances.
Earlier, Kane Williamson won the toss and asked Eoin Morgan to bat first.
England totalled 166 in the first innings:
The recent ODI World Cup champions could not get off to a quickfire start, which they were used to with the pair of Jason Roy and Jos Buttler. England preferred to promote Jonny Bairstow after Roy was injured. Bairstow was sent back by Adam Milne in the final powerplay over at the score of 13 while good looking Jos Buttler was also sent back at his personal score of 29.
England were two down for 53 runs in the 9th over. All-rounder Moeen Ali and Dawid Malan played good cricket to not let the things loosen up from their end in the middle overs. Moeen scored an unbeaten 51 from 37 whole Malan was able to amass 41 from 30 deliveries.
After Malan’s dismissal Liam Livingstone plundered 17 from 10 deliveries, however, he was soon dismissed by James Neesham.
England in their quota of 20 overs were able to total 166 runs in the loss of 4 wickets with Moeen Ali topping the runs chart for them.
For New Zealand, Tim Southee, Adam Milne, James Neesham and Ish Sodhi picked one wicket apiece.
New Zealand crushed England’s hopes for another World Cup title win as they defeated them by five wickets to seal their spot in the finals of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021. New Zealand will play with either Pakistan or Australia in the final on Sunday.
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